more stellar thinking, from the folks who brought you global warming

which drunk is asleep at the switch at the EPA? 20 years ago they were freaking the fuck out over acid rain. it poisoned lakes, turned sandstone buildings black, melted bronze statues, caused frogs to have multiple legs and fish multiple eyes.

because of this, environmental standards were tightened. coal fired electric plants had to install scrubbers, some types of coal could no longer be used. people even went so far as to throw lime (not the fruit) into lakes to sweeten the water.

i'm no tree hugger, but i'm not a scorched earth guy either. if we can clean things up, like the air and water, super! do it. but ask yourselves a question. does acid rain still exist? we never hear about it any more. did we win? is it in remission? did it ever exist at all, or was it the global warming scare of the last part of the last century?

fast forward to this week, when AP reports that the EPA in conjunction with the USDA, and the guardians of all things green, the obama administration, want farmers to increase the use of flue gas or synthetic gypsum on their crops.

this is a chalk like residue which accumulates on the scrubbers of...wait for it....coal fired electric plants!! it contains the heavy metals; mercury,lead, arsenic and some other shit. oh yeah, it is also is used in the manufacture of dry wall. this is the shit we were trying to remove from the atmosphere in the first fucking place!!

don't fear, americans!! your government is looking out for you. the EPA says, that the the heavy metals in the material are far less than the amount considered a threat to human health. Field studies have shown that mercury, the main heavy metal of concern because it can damage development of the human nervous system, doesn't accumulate in crops or run off fields in surface water at "significant" levels.

this business started under one of the bush administrations, but climate change barry is looking to increase its use. don't forget about the mercury in the CFC light bulbs he loves, or the mercury derivative thimerosal, the preservative in your defective H1N1 shot. i wonder if, taken together, these things are "significant", or should be considered a threat?

this, as the EPA is considering regulating this particular kind of waste, for the first time ever, and experts are saying that 1 out of every 100 to 110 children have some form of autism. i'm no scientist, but there has to be some negatives to this. i think my confidence in the government to fuck things up royally is well founded, based on bullshit like this.

www.realclearpolitics.com/news/ap/us_news/2009/Dec/21/epa__usda_push_farmers_to_use_coal_waste_on_fields.htm